There are two versions one is simply about moving to California where he hopes it'll be better and the other is a bit more morbid.  Mouse not morbid.

Woody Gutherie: Yeah that was my first thought too but I looked it up because I wasn't sure. http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/t/timesaregettinghardboys.shtml Well perhaps the website has it wrong. The internet is full of bad documentation.   

Ever since I attributed "... I'd walk ten miles barefoot on a frosty morning just to stand ..." to Susan Polis Schultz rather than to Richard Bradigan I tend to look stuff like that up but even so I don't always get it right.